Happy 33rd Birthday to The Wall

On 30 November 1979, Pink Floyd released The Wall. At that time, I was 15 and I didn’t know much about Roger Waters’ life…or life in general, for that matter. When I first heard it, I just thought it had some catchy tunes, like Another Brick in the Wall…plus they used risqué lyrics like “…do you think they’ll try to break my balls?…” People said it was deep. I just liked the fact that the album told everyone that “we don’t need no education.”

My brother bought that album soon after it came out – he was the family music freak. And yes, the first version I listened to was the vinyl LP (you remember, a Long Play, a 33rpm… or what the kids would now think of as the grandfather of the MP3 – the son being the CD. Oh, wait – your younger ones probably won’t even remember what those were.)

The album was fantastic. We had no clue what it meant, but we listened to it, and listened to it and listened to it.

Four years later, in 1983, I went to University. Soon after arriving, I bought a tape deck and one of the first cassette tapes I bought – yes, I said cassette tape – was The Wall. And I continued my obsession with the album. In my four years of university I went through four or five cassettes- finally having to replace the older one when I could no longer rewind the spools with a pencil, or the tape ripped. I must have had about six empty The Wall cassette cases – cracked, misaligned, scratched and with stained liner notes – when I graduated. I just couldn’t bear to throw them out.

I guess I have listened to the Album over 5000 times in the past 33 years. The playlist is etched in my brain. So are the lyrics. And as I grew older, I started to appreciate what Roger Waters was trying to convey. One of my University buds could not figure out the hold the album had on me, calling it “slit your wrist” music. “Depressing”, he used to say.

I couldn’t disagree more vehemently.

Yes, I will admit that it starts off with a spiral into depression and addiction with a generous splash and violence and racism to sharpen the softer edges. But through the anger and confusion and isolation, the protagonist (aptly named Pink) manages to put himself on trial by inner judge, and sentences himself to try and face the world.

Does it work? Who knows.

For those who have not noticed, the album actually ends off where it started. If you listen to the final words, they are the opening words to the incomplete sentence that introduce the album. I guess it means that the battle never ends, it just keeps going on.

To cap it off, I was very 0fortunate last year. Just like in 1979, my brother came through as when he bought the first album. In May 2012, he took me to The Wall Live at O2 in London. There is still only one word to describe the experience…Amazing.

Over twenty-thousand people, singing along…and I am sure that with each song, they could not help but think of all the times, all the places and all the people that are intertwined with their personal memories of the album.

For me, each time I hear it, I feel a flood of memories: studying for exams, driving on the Trans-Canada, watching the campfire while sipping a beer, enjoying a cup of tea in my favourite chair, dozing on the couch on a sunny Sunday afternoon, listening to it on my Walkman while flying across the Atlantic, or falling asleep after just a few bars of Goodbye Blue Sky …

Good times…and great memories. Thanks Mr Waters and Mr Gilmore. And to your album, Happy Birthday!

The home of a "soon-to-be" middle-aged Canadian fella, not quite ready to be abandoned on the ice floe. My blog is simply about reflecting on today while looking forward to the future - with one grumpy old foot entrenched nostalgically in the past. Maybe you can relate...hope you enjoy. ASF

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